On the occasional occasions when I watch The Biggest Loser, I'm in it for the weigh-in: the glory of success, the tragedy of defeat, the big people in little clothes, the gradual emergence of muscles, the transformations. I love a good makeover.

The other stuff -- the sweating, the grunting, the crying -- not so much. Even the back stories don't do anything for me -- "I just love to eat, I have a thin person inside, I want to be here for my children," sniffle sniffle." Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But even I, ambivalent fan that I am, remember Abby Rike from Season 8, whose husband and two children, including a newborn son, died in an automobile accident prior to her stint on the show. It's an unimaginable story -- who would want to imagine such a thing?

Imagination is no longer necessary because Rike has described the moment her life changed in a new book, Working It Out, in which she talks about the accident, her experience on The Biggest Loser, how she coped, and the faith that helped her come out the other side of her grief as a slender, fit, famous motivational speaker.